Saturday Picks & Sleepers

Last night blurbs – hip-hop Picks and slept-on Sleepers

Saturday Picks

The Copper Gamins

6pm, Mexican American Cultural Center
The pride of Mexico City, the Copper Gamins – singer/guitarist Jose Carmen and drummer Claus Lafania – make like a border White Stripes for four or five years now. Out on San Antonio indie Saustex Records, last year's stateside debut, Los Niños de Cobre, finds the pair leavening their wild, trashy blues bashing with touches like a "less-than-fully-strung mandolin." – Tim Stegall

Fantastic Negrito

8pm, Lucky Lounge
Oakland's Fantastic Negrito has a story: conservative Muslim childhood, Oakland street life that ended with a gun in his face, a million-dollar deal with Interscope as Xavier, a near-fatal auto accident that resulted in permanent damage to his playing hand, marriage, the birth of his son, winner of NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Contest. The soulful blues-hopper tells his story on last year's introductory EP. – Michael Toland

Julianna Barwick

8pm, Parish
Brooklyn's Julianna Barwick teamed up with the Flaming Lips last year to rework Sgt. Pepper's "She's Leaving Home." Okie psych staples, the Beatles, and a Missouri farm girl add up to disparate parts, but it's all a day in the life for the experimental artist. Barwick's ethereal compositions defy neat categorization, rooted as they are in a fascinating study of vocal ambience. – Abby Johnston

Lindi Ortega

9pm, Continental Club
Canada has a long history of country music makers, but it's never produced anything like Lindi Ortega. A multiple Juno Award nominee, the Toronto-born, Nashville-based singer possesses a voice that's been compared to Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Ortega was named Roots Artist of the Year at the 2014 Canadian Country Music Awards for her latest collection, Tin Star. – Jim Caligiuri

Danny B. Harvey

9pm, Lucky Lounge
Killeen wildcat Danny B. Harvey remains a positively sickening guitarist. Since breaking out in the late Seventies with Levi & the Rockats, he's woven his finger-tying fretboard gymnastics across several shades of rockabilly and honky-tonk, even playing with Lemmy in HeadCat. Recently heard on BP Fallon's Live In Texas, he's also teaming with Jerry Lee Lewis' niece Anna Marie. – Tim Stegall

Joey Bada$$

9:30pm, ACL Live at the Moody Theater
The resurrection of rap's golden age culminated with critically acclaimed mixtape 1999 by a fresh-faced teenager named Joey Bada$$ (Jo-Vaughn Scott). After another strong mixtape, Summer Knights, the Brooklyn MC finally released his much-anticipated studio debut, B4.DA.$$. Blessed with Illmatic-era lyrics and quality production, Joey carries the flag for an oft-mythologized era. – Kahron Spearman

King Chip

9:45pm, Palm Door
Sometimes identified as Chip tha Ripper, this Cleveland rapper built a career on partnering with the some of the biggest names in the business – Kid Cudi, Bun B, Kanye – but has yet to release a full-length on his own. This year ends the wait. – Abby Johnston

Gina Chavez

10pm, Lamberts
Reconciling Argentine, Salvadoran, and American rhythms on last year's up.rooted, local songstress Gina Chavez took home three Austin Music Awards, including Best Female Vocalist. We understand she's done better this year. She also raises funds for nonprofit Niña Arriba, which she started after an eight-month mission trip to El Salvador, in order to send girls from the gang-infested country to college. – Nina Hernandez

The Mynabirds

10pm, Red Eyed Fly Inside
Laura Burhenn followed up her Dusty Springfield-esque debut, What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood, with an aesthetic shift on the more electro-pop and aggressive 2012 LP Generals (Saddle Creek). Upcoming third LP, Lovers Know, promises yet another evolution for Burhenn, sheening with a dreamy and brooding shoegaze pop that still accentuates the L.A.-based songwriter's evocative and burning vocal inflections. – Doug Freeman

Sick of It All

10pm, Gypsy Lounge
One of the original crossover acts to smash metal chocolate into hardcore peanut butter, Queens' Sick of It All hit a quarter century of existence last year. Still led by Koller brothers Lou (vox) and Pete (guits), the band stints not on rage or power, as evidenced by its 11th album, Last Act of Defiance. – Michael Toland

Dillinger Escape Plan

11pm, Gypsy Lounge
You'd think music as extreme as mathcore would cause bands to fall apart within a few years, but here comes genre pioneer the Dillinger Escape Plan, nearing its 20th anniversary as strong and vital as ever. One of Us Is the Killer, the band's fifth and most recent slab, demonstrates not one iota of mellowing with age. – Michael Toland

DoWrong & Eric Dingus

11:20pm, Red 7
The son of Austin rap royalty, DoWrong (LaDarrian Torry) has arrived on the scene, with raps conveying a penchant for action, as shown on his eponymous debut EP: "Ain't give a fuck since the day they killed my daddy/ Beef? I'll grill your patty." The producer, Eric Dingus, has earned an OVO co-sign (via a strong remix of "Worst Behavior") and an album production credit from superstar Drake ("Now & Forever" on If You're Reading This It's Too Late). – Kahron Spearman

Crucial Conflict

12mid, Trinity Hall @ Old School
In the early Nineties, the Midwest saw the rise of fast rap with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Twista, and Crucial Conflict flipping mile-a-minute verbal acrobatics. They didn't have the impact of Bone, but for a brief moment roughly 19 years ago, Chicago's Crucial Conflict had the hottest rap song on the planet, all while rocking overalls with a single strap: "Smokin' on haaaaaay, in the middle of the barn!" – Thomas Fawcett

Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts

12mid, Parish
For one so vocal about his love of David Bowie, no surprise that ex-Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland reinvents himself like most change socks. Preview track "White Lightning" from Blaster, the Wildabouts' debut due at month's end, throbs skuzz blues, pouring thick, grimy guitars into a groove like "Jean Genie" rewritten for strippers. – Tim Stegall

Residual Kid

12mid, Holy Mountain Backyard
Brothers Ben and Max Redman have been Austin's musical equivalent to the film Boyhood, maturing in public over the past decade from rambunctious preteen guitar and drum wonder kids to recent Sire Records signees and rising grunge noiseniks with the addition of Deven Ivy on guitar and vocals. The trio recently recorded with J Mascis as they march ever closer to graduation. – Doug Freeman

Trae tha Truth

12:30am, Palm Door on Sixth
Hardcore fans depend on Houston's Frazier Thompson for his thugged-out, old-school narratives. A member of both the Guerilla Maab and the Screwed Up Click collectives, the MC first gained exposure on local solo releases, while also contributing to Z-Ro's Look What You Did to Me as well as Chamillionaire's Mixtape Messiah series. Controversial lyrics got him banned from Houston's KBXX, 97.9 the Box. (Also: Wed., 11:30pm, ACL Live at the Moody Theater; Fri., 11:55pm, Vulcan Gas Company) – Kahron Spearman

Big K.R.I.T

1:15am, 405 Club
A King Remembered In Time, Meridian, Miss., rapper Justin Scott's been on the grind since 2005. Sixth mixtape K.R.I.T. Wuz Here, his 2010 breakout, earned the Southern MC praise and a label deal with Def Jam. Live From the Underground stalled his progress, but last year's follow-up Cadillactica spurred new momentum. – Kahron Spearman

Twista

1:20am, Trinity Hall @ Old School
Chicago's Carl Mitchell knows about speed. Initially tagged a gimmick MC, Twista broke when his 16 bars chopped down Do or Die's hit single "Po Pimp." After signing to Atlantic, he released Adrenaline Rush, which went gold with little airplay. Following alignment with Kanye West, who created momentum for Kamikaze, Twista arrives with a new album, Dark Horse. – Kahron Spearman

Velvet Caravan

8pm, Elephant Room
Based in Savannah, GA., Velvet Caravan brings together musicians from as close as Austin and as far away as Venezuela and Slovenia. The quintet's varied lineage contributes to its eclectic sound, as the group weaves thick threads of Latin and gypsy music into acoustic swing jazz. Last year's Acoustic In Nature documents the group's compositional whimsy and ferocious technique. – Michael Toland

The Recycled Instrument Orchestra of Cateura

8:30pm, Victorian Room at the Driskill
From the impoverished Bañado Sur district of Asunción, Paraguay, this community orchestra – profiled in recent documentary Landfill Harmonic – builds instruments with reclaimed trash from the nearby Cateura landfill. Old oil cans become violin shells and galvanized tin is repurposed into soprano saxes. Comprised of kids and adults, the collective's impressive repertoire spans everything from classical and Paraguayan folk to the Beatles. – Greg Beets

The Yolks

8:45pm, Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
A band lugging a 250-pound Hammond organ starts one step ahead before playing a note. Chicago's Yolks might not catch buzz with lo-fi beat-punk and soul a-go-go, but they scratch what itches you. The quartet's 2007 debut single went through four pressings. 2014 LP Kings of Awesome juxtaposes transistor torch songs with a six-minute upbraiding of "What'd I Say." – Greg Beets

Greighwolfe

9pm, Bungalow
Combining frayed snatches of lurid neo-soul, distorted electro-punk, and classic rock boogie-down abandon, London's Greighwolfe produces a boundary-busting take on the fanciful notion of 21st century blues. Following up on 2014's promising Black EP, Greighwolfe's full-length debut is due later this year. – Greg Beets

Mick Jenkins

9pm, Hype Hotel
Lying somewhere between ratchet and revolutionary, the ambitious Mick Jenkins just might be the next big thing. The 'Bama-born, Chicago-raised MC uses contemporary vernacular and topical douses of consciousness to get the message across. On one of 2014's best mixtapes, The Water[s], he spits progressive and literate bars completely unafraid of transparency. – Kahron Spearman

S. Dot & Tuk-Da-Gat

9pm, Palm Door on Sixth
S. Dot & Tuk-da-Gat are two cogs in the MC collective known as the League of Extraordinary Gz, a crew whose 2013 debut #LeagueShit is considered, by many, ATX's finest hip-hop moment. The local rap kingpins are numerous enough to splinter into occasional side projects, which Dot and Tuk did on 2010's Whiteboy Mixtape, a loose affair floating high up "In the Clouds." – Thomas Fawcett

Grace London

9pm, Stephen F.'s Bar
Fresh off debut LP Brains, Austin native Grace London wrote the bulk of the album's material – which includes a laudable cover of Beck's "Girl Dreams" – when she was just 13. Now 15, the singer tapped Glass Eye bassist Brian Beattie to produce the 2014 effort, exhibiting an artistic vision reaching beyond the songwriter's tender age. – Neph Basedow

Sweet Talk

9:30pm, Hotel Vegas Patio
Formed from spare parts of stellar local outfits OBN IIIs, Church Shoes, and Radioactivity, Sweet Talk's 2013 releases on 12XU – Pickup Lines and the Flash of Light EP – are the closest one can find to Cheap Trick on the local garage-punk circuit. A second LP awaits release. – Tim Stegall

Future Death

10pm, 720 Club
Approximating the sensation of falling down stairs after too much cough medicine, Future Death transcends easy categorization by reconciling the gaps between noise, psychedelia, and prog-punk. The Austin quartet's captivating 2014 full-length debut, Special Victim, was recorded by This Will Destroy You drummer Alex Bhore in an old funeral home. – Greg Beets

Akina Adderley & the Vintage Playboys

10pm, Palm Door on Sabine
After a well-received sophomore release, 2012's Say Yes, Akina Adderley took some time off to have a baby. She's back on Austin stages, bringing her rich vocals to a variety of soul styles, each accomplished with a measure of authenticity rising from the jazz heritage of her grandfather Nat, granduncle "Cannonball," and father Nat, Jr. – Jim Caligiuri

Natasha Kmeto

11pm, Blackheart
Portland, Ore., singer and electronic producer Natasha Kmeto has been compared to Grimes, Jessie Ware, and others. In tune with her carnal side, the J-Dilla-influenced Kmeto produced Crisis, a disc bathed in the confusion of love, breathy vox, and tectonic-shifting bass. One of the best headphones/late night projects of the last few years. – Kahron Spearman

Grape St.

11pm, Hotel Vegas @ Volstead
Born from the ashes of Austin's Harlem, Grape St. takes up that same streetwise ethos. Frontman Curtis O'Mara is the leather-jacketed bad boy of the quartet, casual in defiance, but still sharp like the snap of bubblegum. The band rides high on 2013 debut LP A Date With You. – Abby Johnston

Warm Soda

11pm, Hotel Vegas Patio
Fronted by Memphis-born Matthew Melton, the Austin rock quartet mingles glossy Seventies glam with power-pop similar to the recently defunct Smith Westerns. Though Young Reckless Hearts dropped just last year, expect tunes from the foursome's third LP, Symbolic Dream, slated for a May 4 release. – Neph Basedow

Harvest Thieves

11pm, Lucky Lounge
Spun out from Austin roots-rockers Guns of Navarone, Cory Reinisch and Dustin Meyer's Harvest Thieves has evolved into a bristling quintet following the local acclaim of 2013's Lightning in a Bottle EP. Debut LP Rival slated for summer delivery, the Thieves craft pulsing, poignant alt.country ballads that kick up hard-luck heartbreak and restlessness. – Doug Freeman

Whitehorse

11pm, Swan Dive
Whitehorse, wife and husband Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, succeeds where other Americana duos come up short. Smoldering harmonies, inventive use of loops and technology, and sinewy guitars center the Toronto duo. First CD The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss, was on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. Leave No Bridge Unburned, an expansive and bold follow-up, came out last month – Jim Caligiuri

Curtis McMurtry

12mid, Stephen F's Bar
Son of James, grandson of Larry, Curtis McMurtry was born to this. Debut CD Respectable Enemy (2014) made a splash in Austin's singer-songwriter community on tunes detailed, poignant, and character-driven. Only 24, the Austin native studied music composition at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., primarily writing contemporary chamber music for banjo and strings. – Jim Caligiuri

Mini Mansions

12mid, Buffalo Billiards
When Queens of the Stone Age took a breather in 2009, drummer Michael Shuman put together the perfect foil to his day job: dreamy psych-pop threepiece Mini Mansions. A year after the trio released a delirious self-titled debut, Queens rekindled in trauma, but Shuman didn't relinquish his syrupy pop interludes, instead joining the Arctic Monkeys AM tour last year, and preparing for the release of sophomore LP The Great Pretenders March 23. – Nina Hernandez

The Ugly Beats

1am, Valhalla
Evoking Sixties rock is hardly pushing the envelope, but Austin quintet the Ugly Beats rule. 2014's Brand New Day sounds more like a time capsule than a fresh start, taking the Byrds' jangle and Grace Slick's knack for stiletto lyrics. Hard to fault anyone who delivers that type of flashback. – Abby Johnston

Not in the Face

1am, Holy Mountain Backyard
Jonathan Terrell and Wes Cargal admit they started Not in the Face jokingly, but the Southern swagger and raw energy of their live show and subsequent debut LP, 2011's Bikini, hit with dead serious force. Expanded to a quartet, the Austin rockers have teased their upcoming sophomore effort with two EPs that unload heavy riffs behind Terrell's strutting bluesy howls. ZZ Top meets Black Keys. – Doug Freeman

Roger Sellers

Roger Sellers

1am, Javelina
Roger Sellers' fourth LP, Primitives, supplied one of Austin's most unique and unexpected highlights in 2014, a shimmering collection of transcendent, intricately orchestrated soundscapes. With impulses to roots and Americana sounds as much as the experimental ambience of Philip Glass or Brian Eno, the local composer layers and loops like a one-man Animal Collective. – Doug Freeman

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